"Callie, please – let me go!" Frank begged. She was finally safe; the last thing he wanted was for her to die in a futile effort to save him.

"No," Callie replied through gritted teeth. As the two of them slipped another half an inch, a tear slipped from her eye and slid down her cheek, splashing onto Frank’s upturned face.

Frank closed his eyes, resigning himself to their fate. He heard Callie choke back a sob and grip his arm tighter, despite knowing it was useless. He wondered how long he’d be in free fall before hitting bottom, and quickly pushed the thought from his mind. Slipping a little further, Frank silently said goodbye to his parents, his aunt and Joe.

‘Joe…’

Frank squeezed his eyes shut as rapid-fire memories of life with his younger brother flashed through his mind. Regretting that he never got to say goodbye, Frank took a little solace in knowing Joe wouldn’t rest until Carper, Ross and their cohorts were brought to justice for his and Callie’s murders. He felt himself move another inch and realized something was different – he was moving up, not down!

Raising his head, Frank saw Arthur Gray holding Callie tightly around the waist, anchoring her in place. Seconds later, two Network agents appeared above the rail. Reaching down they latched onto Frank’s arms. Slowly they pulled him up, inch by nerve-wracking inch, until he could grab the safety railing. Frank climbed over the rail with the help of Gray and the two agents. Once back on solid ground, he sank to his knees, giving serious thought to kissing the cold, hard and very solid platform beneath him.

Callie threw herself on him, openly sobbing. Frank held her tightly, said a prayer of thanks and looked at Gray.

"Ross?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gray smiled thinly. "I’m told Joe went after him."

Frank couldn’t help but chuckle. "God help him," he said sarcastically.

*****

Joe stared at the speeding snowmobile for barely a second before he was engulfed in a rush of anger. Wiping his eyes one last time, Joe ignored the aches and pains he’d amassed over the last day and a half. Staring at Ross, hunched over the handlebars of the snowmobile making a beeline straight for him, Joe’s face showed grim determination – he would not be beaten by this man again.

Joe stood and faced the onrushing Ross, waiting patiently. As the snowmobile grew closer, Joe bent his knees a little and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. He never took his eyes off Ross, knowing he had to time this perfectly. Joe wished he could see Ross’ eyes, wondering what the big man was thinking about this strange game of chicken Joe had started.

Feeling the familiar rush of excitement as the snowmobile bore down on him, Joe cautioned himself. ‘Wait…wait… a few more seconds… NOW!’

Joe pushed off and launched himself forward, catching a stunned Ross around the neck with his forearm. He let out a grunt of pain as they landed heavily in the snow, tangled together, rolling several times. When they came to a stop, Ross lay dazed on the ground, but Joe wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation. Running on sheer adrenaline, Joe grabbed Ross by the arm and flipped him onto his stomach. Straddling his back, Joe pulled Ross’ arms up behind his back, grinning when he heard a painful gasp.

"Awww, what’s the matter? You can dish it out but you can’t take it?" Joe taunted him.

Ross turned his head to one side and glared at Joe. "Punk!" he spat out.

"Yeah, well this punk just came out on top!" Joe replied acidly. Shoving Ross’ face into the snow, he felt somewhat vindicated for the beating he taken the day before.

A moment later, Joe heard voices floating out from the tree-line. Turning his head, he saw Arthur Gray walking towards him, accompanied by two local police officers and Vanessa.

"Look," Joe said sarcastically, grabbing Ross’ hair and pulling his head up. "The welcome wagon has just arrived."

Ignoring Ross’ colorful reply, Joe held him securely in place, making sure he got one more faceful of snow before the two police officers knelt down beside him and snapped handcuffs on the man. Grinning in triumph, Joe stood and pumped a triumphant fist in the air just as Vanessa ran up and threw her arms around him, almost knocking him back to the ground. He held her tightly, a smile glued to his face, as Ross was hauled to his feet and led away, glaring at Joe once final time.

"Frank and Callie?" Joe asked, his voice muffled against Vanessa’s shoulder.

"They’re okay," she replied, pulling back enough to look him in the eyes. "How about you?"

"I’m great," Joe grinned, still feeling the rush from his triumph over Ross. Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Arthur Gray approaching; however Vanessa swiftly recaptured his attention.

"You sure are," she agreed.

Joe felt her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him toward her and then she kissed him, long and hard.

As he walked towards Joe and Vanessa, Arthur Gray nodded to the two police officers who were leading a sullen looking Ross back through the woods. When he had told Frank he and the officers were going to look for Joe and Ross, Vanessa Bender had been relentless. The young woman had badgered him mercilessly, much to Frank’s amusement, and finally announced that if he refused to let her come along she would simply follow behind him. Knowing defeat when he saw it, Gray had frowned in disgust and given in to her request while at the same time admiring her tenacity.

‘And all these years I thought Joe was stubborn! He’s got nothing on her!’ he smiled to himself. As another thought struck him, Gray found himself chuckling out loud. ‘I think Joe Hardy has finally met his match!’

Stopping a few feet from the couple he was about to ask Joe exactly what had happened, when Vanessa grabbed the younger Hardy and kissed him. Flushing slightly, Gray looked away for a few seconds and then looked back, obviously not having given them enough time. Abruptly turning away, he glanced at the snowmobile and then up at the late afternoon sun before glancing at his watch.

‘Okay, plenty of time,’ he thought, satisfied and looked up at Joe and Vanessa. His eyes widened involuntarily and he half turned away. Looking down at the snow, he studied the jumble of footprints for a moment then took great pains to examine his fingernails before checking his watch for the second time.

Cautiously he turned back and felt his mouth gape open slightly. ‘How long can they keep that up? Don’t they need air?!’

Clearing his throat, Gray expected Joe and Vanessa to jump apart, embarrassed to find they’d momentarily forgotten he was there. He was sorely disappointed. Waiting a few seconds he did it again, following it up with a very loud cough. He narrowed his eyes, both awed and annoyed. Joe and Vanessa were oblivious to him.

"Excuse me!" he said, deliberately raising his voice and getting no acknowledgement whatsoever.

"Fine," he said icily. "I’ll go back to the restaurant and wait for you there." Ignored once more, he threw his hands up in defeat. "Unbelievable…."

Turning, he trudged back across the clearing and disappeared into the woods.

Reluctantly, Vanessa pulled away from Joe a fraction of an inch, breathless. "Did you hear something?" she murmured.